Japan to summon Russian ambassador over correspondent detention: media

The Japanese flag at the National Diet Building in Tokyo, Japan, February 18, 2026. (Photo: CFP)

Japan has made representations to Russia over the detention of a Japanese correspondent on suspicion of espionage and will summon the Russian ambassador to Japan on Wednesday afternoon, Kyodo News reported.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said at a House of Representatives Budget Committee session on Wednesday that the Embassy of Japan in Russia and other bodies are working to ascertain the facts with the Russian side, adding that Japan has asked Russia to give the detained individual humanitarian consideration.

Motegi said Japan will clarify the circumstances leading to the detention and the health condition of the detained correspondent, and will take necessary actions.

Russia's Federal Security Service announced Tuesday local time that it had detained a Japanese correspondent on suspicion of espionage. The correspondent worked at the bureau of the Japanese newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the administrative center of the Sakhalin region.

According to Russian media, the correspondent was detained in Sakhalin as he was about to leave Russia and was subsequently transferred to Moscow. The case remains under investigation.